A young man identified as Azeez has reportedly died after he was allegedly assaulted by suspected cult members following a dispute over a missing mobile phone in the Oko-Oba area of Agege, Lagos State.
The incident occurred on Monday, August 3, according to a police source who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Sunday.
It was gathered that trouble started after Azeez and some of his acquaintances attended a social gathering where a phone was reported missing.
A police source said an argument subsequently broke out between Azeez and some of the people present at the gathering before the disagreement allegedly escalated into violence.
The source said the victim was attacked by some suspected cultists who were reportedly known to him.
“We received a report that he died following an assault allegedly carried out by some suspected cultists who were his friends.
The disagreement was over a missing phone,” the source said.
Azeez reportedly succumbed to the injuries he sustained during the assault.
Further details emerged from an anti-cultism advocacy platform, Naija Confra, which alleged that the incident began during a birthday celebration on Sunday night, August 2.
According to the platform, a fight reportedly broke out at the event, during which a man identified as Abela allegedly picked up a phone and handed it to Azeez.
The situation reportedly worsened when the owner of the phone began looking for it and later discovered that it was in Azeez’s possession.
Naija Confra alleged that when Azeez was confronted, he explained that Abela had given him the phone to keep. However, the platform claimed that Abela denied handing the device to him.
The disagreement reportedly continued, with the phone owner and his associates allegedly attacking Azeez before leaving the venue.
The advocacy group further alleged that Azeez later confronted Abela over the denial, resulting in another argument.
It claimed that Azeez was subsequently taken to another location by suspected members of the Neo-Black Movement, where he was allegedly assaulted.
The victim later died from injuries sustained during the incident.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, were unsuccessful as calls to her telephone lines were unanswered.
A text message sent to her had also not received a response as of the time of filing this report.